Life is Magic
by Harleygwyn
Summary: HOGWARTS AU! Some crossover involved. The cast of Life is Strange, all 11 years old at point of entry, begin their schooling at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! What adventures await them? Includes pairings later on, and will feature one of our favourite LiS characters as Triwizard Champion!
1. Hogwarts Express

"Come _on,_ Che!" Max panted as she rushed towards the train. "We're going to miss it!"

Max looked behind her at her companion, and inwardly screamed as she noted that Chloe was taking her sweet time to catch up. She caught the door of the bright scarlet train, which was tooting impatiently, alerting the stragglers to its' imminent departure; and once again, yelled back at Chloe, who thankfully was closing in on the train.

"CHLOE! Hurry UP!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it…" Chloe groaned, as she reached the door and hauled herself up into the carriage behind Max; barely in the nick of time, as the train started up and began to chug slowly out of the station. "You really need to chill, Maxie. It's fine!"

Max huffed, folding her arms indignantly in front of her. "Only just! We nearly missed it… Our _first day,_ Che."

Chloe chuckled and clapped her hand on Max's shoulder. "Well, we're here, aren't we? Look, I promise to be better behaved for my Super-Max from now on, is that better?" She made faux-pleading eyes at her companion, and Max relaxed as she realised she could never stay mad at Chloe for long.

"Fine! Quits then? Let's go find some seats!"

Chloe nodded in agreement and, taking Max's hand, brushed past her and pulled her into the carriage corridor. After passing what seemed like hundreds of compartments, the girls began to realise that Chloe's poor timekeeping had left them with very limited seating options; there simply were no empty carriages, every single one seemed to be at least half full.

After wandering up and down the train for close to half an hour, a compartment door slid open as they made to pass by it for the fourth time; a small boy with mousy brown hair and a dusting of freckles poked his head out of the door, and called after the girls.

"Hey! You two!"

Surprised, Max and Chloe turned to face their addressor; Chloe was the one to yell back in response.

"Yeah, what?"

"Are you planning to sit down any time soon? Watching you hurl up and down this corridor is making us kind of nauseous…"

"No shit! We can't find anywhere, you got any ideas?"

The boy smiled. "We just about have room for two more – come and sit with us!"

Chloe turned to look at Max, who shrugged and nodded; the pair made their way back down the corridor towards the boy and, thanking him, followed him into the compartment. It was a bit of a squeeze, as now 7 of them were squashed into a compartment that was clearly made for 6 – luckily the fact that they were first years and that the boy who had spoken to them was so small made the journey somewhat bearable, and even so, Max and Chloe were used to huddling up close from all the sleepovers they had had together over the years.

The girls glanced across their newfound company, silently appraising them. In addition to the small boy, there were two more boys and two girls. The two boys, both dressed in skater clothes, had barely noticed the new additions to their compartment as they were heavily engaged in an intense game of exploding snap. In contrast to this, both the girls had noticed; one was huddled up in the corner opposite the boys, and she waved shyly towards Max and Chloe – she was dressed very conservatively in a knee length skirt with her hair tied up in a bun. However, it was the other girl that really captured Chloe's attention in particular; she had long, flowing brown hair and wore black skinny jeans, ripped at the knees, and her black boots were lifted up and resting on the table in front of her, one leg crossed over the other. She had slung both her arms across the top of the seats behind her, one arm behind the conservative girl, and one arm behind the mousy boy; neither of whom seemed to mind and were ignoring the girl's carefree manner as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

The two girls squashed themselves in beside the skater boys and opposite the other 3; the mousy boy smiled and began the introductions.

"So, uh- I'm Warren, and these are my friends Rachel and Kate," he began, gesturing to the girls beside him. "And these two," he gestured across the table, "are Justin and Trevor. We only met them today, too."

Chloe nodded and pulled Max in towards her. "Hi guys! I'm Chloe and this is Max here. Well, actually, her full name's Maxine – but I wouldn't dare call her that if I were you, she kind of goes nuts."

Max glared at Chloe. " _Why,_ Chlo? Why would you do that?!"

Rachel laughed. "Hey, it's not as if it would have been a secret for long! They always call out your full name at the sorting, anyway."

Chloe grinned. "See, Maxie? I did no wrong!" she laughed along, feigning innocence. "And anyway, I want to hear more about the sorting! You seem like you know a lot more about all this than we do!" she said, turning back to address Rachel.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, I have an older brother at Hogwarts already, and Kate has an older sister too. Warren's an only child though, and who knows about those two over there…"

At this, one of the boys finally looked up. "Hey! We are listening, you know. I've got an older brother here, but Trev's the oldest of 3 so he's pretty new to this too."

Chloe nodded. "Max and I are only kids, too. We literally have no idea what's going on. Both – how do you put it – muggle-born? Bit of a shock when old McGonagall turned up in my fireplace…"

Max, who had been silently listening in up until this point, suddenly piped up. "Are you in a wizarding family then? I can't think how weird it would be to know all along that you could do magic!"

Rachel grinned. "Yeah, all 3 of us knew! Warren and I are pureblood, and Kate's half – bit of a long story there, I'm sure she'll tell you sometime… But we've all been friends for years and we always knew we'd be coming to school here!

"That's so _awesome,_ " Chloe breathed, I wish I'd have always known. I mean, there were signs, but people always thought I was just weird. Max never showed signs though. Man, it was so cool when I found out she'd be coming too!"

"Yeah, it's awesome!" Rachel grinned back. "I just can't wait to get there now, this train seems to be taking like… forever!"

"Speaking of which," Warren cut in. "Look! We're passing through Hogsmeade! C'mon, we'd better get changed, we'll be there soon!"

Rachel pumped her fist into the air. "Hella _yes!_ About time!"

* * *

20 minutes later, all seven of them had changed into their school robes and the train was pulling into the station; Chloe could barely contain her excitement and Max and Rachel both grinned at the sight of her bobbing up and down impatiently in her seat. Kate was looking more nervous than she'd ever been in her life, and the boys seemed to be indifferent to the entire situation, patiently standing up to leave as the train finally ground to a halt.

Chloe grabbed Max and jumped up from her seat, pulling Max along with her. "Come on, Super-Max! We're here already!"

Max grumbled and rubbed her neck where it had been yanked up by her robes, but allowed herself to be dragged along nonetheless. "Alright, Che, alright! I'm coming!"

Rachel laughed excitedly as she ran to catch up, the other four hastily following suit. As Chloe jumped down from the train onto the platform, she felt herself hurtle into something in front of her; the something stumbled away from her and gasped in indignation. Chloe looked up to see what it was and found herself face-to-face with a blonde boy, who straightened up to his full height and sneered back at her.

"Watch where you're going, short-stop!" he quipped angrily. "Some of us have pretty faces to take care of!" he looked down at Chloe and noticed her rubbing her nose, which had begun to bleed as it collided with the metal clasp on his bag. "Unlike you, obviously. No big loss." He chuckled nastily as he beckoned to his companions to follow him towards the boats, shoving other students out of the way in his wake.

"Bastard!" Chloe yelled after him half-heartedly, frantically searching her pockets for a tissue. Max patted her arms, indicating for her to stop, as she took a tissue of her own and lightly pressed it to Chloe's nose. Chloe mumbled a sound of thanks from beneath the tissue.

"Who the hell was _that?_ " Max exclaimed angrily, as she watched the three boys disappear further into the distance.

"Urgh. That was Nathan Prescott." Rachel muttered. My family's known his for years. He's such a douche… seriously Chlo, just ignore him. Come on, we'd better get to the boats." Warren nodded in agreement and motioned towards the others to follow suit as they began to press their way through the throngs of students towards the group of first years heading towards the boats.

Chloe and Max turned to grin at each other excitedly as they hurried along after the others. It was almost time.


	2. The Sorting

The excitement was palpable as the first years scurried up the stairs towards the Great Hall. The ghosts hovered amongst them and whispered between themselves as they appraised the new additions to the school. The students huddled together in their new-found groups of friends as they reached the top the stairs, and eagerly waited at the Great Hall entrance.

Chloe leaned towards Rachel and excitedly whispered into her ear. "Hey, I almost forgot! I never had the chance to ask you properly what the sorting is like!"

Rachel grinned and moved her face to whisper back. "No need. Look!"

Chloe looked up and saw a gangly man dressed in green professors' robes emerge from the corridor and turn to face the new arrivals. A hush blanketed the crowd.

"Good evening, first years. My name is Professor Longbottom, and I will be your herbology teacher here at Hogwarts, as well as being your Deputy Head. In just a few moments I will lead you through these doors and into the Great Hall, where you will be sorted into your Houses. While you are at Hogwarts, your House will be like your family. Triumphs will earn you points; any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year the House with the most points will be awarded the House Cup.

There are four houses at Hogwarts; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The sorting hat will place you into the house best suited to your attributes, and I'm sure you'll all thrive where you are allocated."

With that, the professor turned abruptly to face the doors, which had begun to open slowly of their own accord. With a cry of "Follow me!" he walked through them and into the Great Hall. The first years clamoured to be the first inside whilst simultaneously hurrying to keep up with the Professor, who was striding along through the hall at a considerable pace.

Chloe and Max stayed glued at the hip as they closed in towards the head table, their newfound companions littering their either side. Once they had reached the front of the hall, a strict, important-looking witch stood up from her place at the centre of the table and made her way around to stand in front of the whispering group of first-years; she took a large roll of parchment from Professor Longbottom, after which he left to take his seat amongst the rest of the Hogwarts Professors.

Clearing her throat, she began to speak.

"As many of you will know, my name is Professor McGonagall, and I am the Headmistress here at Hogwarts. Tonight I will be overseeing the sorting of all of you into your respective houses. As such, when I read your name, I would like you to come up here and be seated upon the stool; I will place the Sorting Hat onto your head-" she picked up a worn, tattered looking hat from where it rested upon the stool – "and it will call out the name of your house, after which you will be free to be seated amongst your housemates.

So without further ado, let the sorting begin."

Max felt Chloe grab her hand and grip it tightly beside her; she turned to face her friend, who was nervously biting her lip, a tick that Max had only rarely ever seen her display before. Smiling, Max nudged her slightly with her elbow, and squeezed her hand in encouragement; the corner of Chloe's lips raised in response and Max felt her relax ever so slightly.

In front of them, Professor McGonagall had unravelled the roll of parchment to its' full length, and, clearing her throat once more, she began to read off the names.

"Amber, Rachel!"

Rachel grinned and flashed the group a thumbs-up as she confidently strode past them and up the steps to the stool. Max and Chloe watched her as she went, both silently envious of the taller girl's confidence; she exuded an aura of brilliance as she walked, and their awe of her quickly spread to the other students as she bypassed them all. Rachel sat herself on the stool and made a show of making herself comfortable; the hat barely grazed the top of her head before it screamed its' decision.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers as Rachel hopped down and hurried over to join them. Chloe watched as she went and then turned to Max, all hints of nervousness suddenly erased from her face, her cheeks glowing as she spoke.

"This is awesome, Max! I hope the hat puts us there too!"

Max grinned and nodded back at her friend; she couldn't help but feel that it would be great if they all ended up in the same house. Her train of thought was interrupted, however, when Professor McGonagall yelled the next name on the list, continuing with the ceremony.

"Anderson, Alyssa!" – "RAVENCLAW!"

"Banks, Trevor!"

Trevor nervously walked through the group, Warren clapping him on the back in encouragement as he went. The hat sat atop his head for a minute or so before it eventually decided.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Max sighed in exasperation. There went the dream of all her new friends ending up in the same house. She didn't have much time to dwell on this fact, however, as…

"Caulfield, Maxine!"

Max gulped. She could feel all eyes on her, and she only realised that she was still grasping on tight to Chloe's hand when she felt her friend give it a gentle squeeze. Max looked up at Chloe and saw her grin back at her; reluctantly, she let go of Chloe's hand, and pushed herself to the front of the group and up the steps, lowering herself down onto the stool. McGonagall dropped the hat on top of her head, and Max shuddered as she felt it begin to move. Begin to speak…

Just under a minute later, the hall broke out into cheers as the hat called "GRYFFINDOR!"

Max sighed with relief and stepped down from the stool, taking herself to the Gryffindor table as fast as her legs would carry her, and dropping herself down on the bench beside Rachel. Rachel went to hi-five her, and Max gratefully reciprocated, before turning back to the front of the hall to look at Chloe, who looked as if she might explode with pride.

"Chase, Victoria!" – "SLYTHERIN!"

"Christensen, Taylor!" – "SLYTHERIN!"

"DaCosta, Daniel!" – "RAVENCLAW!"

"Evans, Kirsten!" – "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Fieldman, Sarah!" – "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Graham, Warren!"

Max watched on as Warren stepped up and took his place upon the stool; when McGonagall dropped the hat on top of his head, it was so big for the tiny boy that it fell down below his eyes, and Max and Rachel both fought hard to stifle their giggles. A couple of minutes passed before the hat yelled out "GRYFFINDOR!" and the two girls joined the rest of their table in jumping up and cheering as Warren made his way down and took his place at the table opposite Max.

"Harris, Evan!" – "RAVENCLAW!"

"Hill, Stella!" – "RAVENCLAW!"

"Jones, Hayden!" – "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Marquez, Fernando!" – "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Marsh, Katharine!"

Max really felt for Kate as she watched her take her turn; the poor girl was shaking so hard that the sorting hat had a rough time staying atop her head. Max felt even worse when the hat made its' decision – "RAVENCLAW!" – as she realised that Kate was, at this moment, all on her own in her house, without any of her friends – not a great place to be for someone that scared. At least she had her older sister in the same house.

"Parker, Luke!" – "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Potter, Lily!"

Max was confused at the hushed murmurs that broke out across the hall in response to this name; she resolved to ask Rachel about it later.

"GRYFFINDOR!" …Or, she could simply ask Lily about it herself…

"Prescott, Nathan!" – "SLYTHERIN!"

Rachel nudged Max and whispered in her ear. _"Are we even surprised?"_

"Price, Chloe!"

Max sat up straight in her seat and watched intently as Chloe strode purposefully towards the stool. She took her seat and stared straight ahead, not daring to make eye contact with anybody. The hat was placed atop her head and, at the Gryffindor table, Max crossed both her fingers and her toes, willing with all her strength for Chloe to be placed in Gryffindor with her.

The seconds ticked by. Then the seconds rolled into minutes. And those minutes rolled into even more minutes. Max could hear the hushed whispers breaking out amongst more and more of the students as time went by, and she could see Chloe's eyes squeezed shut and her knuckles turning whiter and whiter as she gripped the edge of the stool even harder.

Mas leaned over to Rachel and whispered urgently. _"Rachel, what's happening? Why hasn't the hat picked yet?"_

Rachel leaned back and responded with an equal urgency. _"It's been more than 5 minutes… she's a hatstall. The sorting hat is having trouble choosing!"_

Max leaned away from Rachel and bit her lip in concern as she watched Chloe grow more and more uncomfortable on the stool. Eventually, after what seemed like hours but was in fact, in reality, closer to 10 minutes, the hat finally made its' decision.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Hufflepuff table could not have made more noise, and even though Max was disappointed not to be in the same house as Chloe, she was grateful for the support that Chloe's new house was showing her; and she tried not to be too upset as she realised that at least Chloe had Trevor with her, and they would still be able to hang out together regardless. Trying desperately to cover up her disappointment, Max stood up and cheered along with the Hufflepuffs as Chloe went to join them; she caught Chloe's eye and gave her a double thumbs up which was eagerly reciprocated by a Chloe who looked more relieved than she'd ever been in her life. Little did Max know that Chloe was trying just as hard as she was to mask her disappointment at not being placed in the same house as her best friend.

"Riggins, Zachary!" – "SLYTHERIN!"

"Robertson, Logan!" – "SLYTHERIN!"

"Scott, Brooke!" – "RAVENCLAW!"

"Wagner, Courtney!" – "SLYTHERIN!"

"Ward, Dana!" – "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Watson, Juliet!" – "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Weasley, Hugo!" _Again with the whispering…_ \- "HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Weaver, Megan!" – "GRYFFINDOR!"

Finally there was only one first year left at the front to be sorted, and it was the last of Max's newest friends; she watched eagerly as he began to make his way to the stool even before his name was called.

"Williams, Justin!" – "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Again, Max stood with Rachel and cheered with the Hufflepuffs as Justin walked down towards his new table and went to join the bench across from Trevor and Chloe, who both hi-fived him as he approached. Eventually the noise subsided and all the students were seated at their respective tables; Professor Longbottom had come to take the stool and the hat away and Professor McGonagall had taken her place at the centre of the head table.

A deadly hush fell across the hall as McGonagall rose from her seat and lifted her hands; Max's jaw dropped in awe as she looked on at the veritable feast that was appearing on the table in front of her. Glancing across the hall at Chloe, she could see that her excitement was shared by her friend, who looked as if she had literally just entered heaven through the pearly gates. From the front of the hall, McGonagall's voice sounded, with a phrase that formally began the new school year at Hogwarts.

"Let the feast begin!"


	3. First Day

Max awoke the next day, still blissful from the excitement of the events of the night before, combined with the best sleep she felt she'd had for years. The scarlet and gold four-poster bed she'd fallen into around 1am was plump and well-cushioned; resignedly she dragged herself from the warmth of her new feather duvet, and made her way across to the bathroom she now shared with the new Gryffindor first years.

She noticed on the way that two of the beds were empty – Megan was still sound asleep in her bed, Juliet was slowly rousing, but Rachel and Lily were nowhere to be seen. Max guessed she would find them in the bathroom; but when she arrived, she found that only Lily was there, bent over the sink and brushing her teeth. Max shrugged – Rachel must have been up earlier; she wasn't surprised, with it having only taken 10 minutes knowing the girl to realise what a livewire she was. She wasn't too bothered, knowing that the Gryffindors shared all their classes together, and that they would most certainly catch up together later.

Lily looked up at the sound of Max entering the bathroom and nodded in acknowledgement to her, unable to speak due to the toothpaste that was fast frothing up in her mouth as she brushed. Max nodded back and walked past with a "Hey", before grabbing her towel and entering the shower stall. When she emerged, Lily had also gone. Max frowned; she was hoping to speak to Lily about the reaction to her sorting last night, but decided that she would have time to do that later, too.

Once Max was dressed, she went down to the common room, and found that a table had been magicked in front of the noticeboard, upon which were individual packs of timetables and ties. Drawing nearer to the table, she realised these were intended for the 1st years – one of the packs had her name on it, and there were a few left for most of the girls and some of the boys. Lily's had already gone, but Rachel's was still there, which Max found confusing, given that she hadn't seen her all morning. Again, she shrugged it off; Rachel had probably just forgotten.

Max opened her pack and, smiling, pulled out the new silken Gryffindor tie; she pulled the standard black Hogwarts one from around her neck and made quick work of replacing it with the new one. She pulled out the timetable and began to read it as she picked up her bag and hurried from the common room down to breakfast.

* * *

Max sat down at the breakfast table beside Rachel and Chloe. She had learned last night that ever since the Great Battle of Hogwarts, members of each house were allowed to sit together at breakfast, to promote inter-house association, whatever that meant. To tell the truth, she was still very confused about many things; but had decided to give up trying to understand too much at once, reminding herself that she had seven whole years to learn the ins and outs of the magical world.

Rachel and Chloe were talking animatedly, both tucking into bacon butties and laughing at jokes that Max couldn't hear. She frowned and concentrated on the food, helping herself to a stack of pancakes from the platter in front of her and drowning them in maple syrup. Eventually Chloe realised she was there and turned to address her.

"Hey, Maxaroni! Long time no see, right? Nice colours!" She gestured to Max's new tie.

Max smirked. "Thanks. Nice emblem…" she remarked, looking down at Chloe's new house crest.

"Hey!" Chloe pouted. "The badger's a very noble animal, you know!"

"Whatever you say, Che," Max sighed in faux mockery.

"Yeah, whatevs!" Rachel butted in. "The lion's by far the best, everyone knows that. By the way Max, what lessons do we even have today?"

"Er," Max stumbled as she grabbed her folded up timetable from her pocket. "Looks like Herbology with the Slytherins, History of Magic with the Ravenclaws, and then after lunch we have Astronomy with the Hufflepuffs."

Chloe groaned. "Aw man, that's the one we have to stay up late for, isn't it?"

"Yep. We have theory stuff this afternoon, then it says we have another class starting at 11pm tonight."

"I guess that'll be looking through telescopes and crap like that," Rachel grimaced. "Don't they get that some of us need our beauty sleep?"

Max was gobsmacked. "Come on, you guys! How can you be moaning?! This is amazing!"

Chloe grinned and clapped Max on the back. "You're right Maxie, I'm only messing. This school is sweet as!"

All of the sudden a shrill bell rang out three times; the girls went to stand up and were greeted by Warren, who walked towards them from the other end of the table where he had been sitting with Trevor, Justin and Hugo. Chloe took this as her cue to leave, as she had Potions with the Ravenclaws; after bear hugging both Rachel and Max she went down to join the Hufflepuff boys, and together they walked out of the Great Hall and towards the dungeons.

Warren and the Gryffindor girls turned together to walk in the opposite direction, acquiring Lily in the process, as she was sat only a few seats down. Warren looked at Rachel with a confused look on his face.

"Hey Rach, where's your tie?"

Rachel turned ashen and bolted back towards Gryffindor Tower, calling back behind her.

"WAIT FOR ME!"

* * *

That evening Max was sitting in the Astronomy Tower, feeling both incredibly bored, incredibly tired and INCREDIBLY angry that Rachel had been right about this lesson being rubbish. The professor was standing in front of the class, drivelling on about some kind of star system she'd never heard of, and freaking out about the fact that one of these stars would be visible through a triple strength telescope in 3 years' time. Max honestly couldn't care less. The only redeeming factor was that in this lesson there was a seating plan, with a Gryffindor being paired with a Hufflepuff at every table, and Max had been paired with Chloe. This gave her great comfort, knowing that there would be at least one lesson in which she could sit beside her friend all year.

Chloe seemed just as bored as Max, and leaned over to whisper to her friend.

"So, how was your first day?"

Max leaned back and covered her mouth with her hand to mask the fact she was speaking.

"Not too bad. I mean, Prescott was an absolute prat in Herbology… he accidentally-on-purpose spilt soil over Warren, and then made some awful joke about him not even needing to bend over to pick it up."

Chloe shook her head. "Poor kid. It's not his fault he's so short… with any luck he'll have some sort of growth spurt soon and then he could pummel Prescott into the ground. He's such a dick."

Max giggled softly. "No such luck. He's pureblood, remember? He'd just hex Warren into the middle of next week. Plus, I couldn't really see Warren hitting anyone. He's far too nice."

Chloe grumbled. "He'd deserve it, though…"

"He so would," Max smiled softly. "Anyways, today wasn't all bad. I saw Kate in History of Magic and it was good to catch up. I said I'd have breakfast with her tomorrow; she seems pretty lonely up in Ravenclaw on her own."

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, she seemed happy to see me in Potions. We sat together and got chatting; she's really nice. So damn smart too!"

"Yeah, she said she'd help me with my homework! Thank the Lord. I can't believe we have so much on the first day."

Grimacing, Chloe agreed with her friend. "I know right! I have to write 10 inches on the health and safety hazards of brewing potions. I didn't even know there WERE that many… it's such balls."

"Wowzers," Max groaned. "I am SO not looking forward to my first Potions class…"

"What's even worse," Chloe continued, "is Rachel doesn't even seem bothered by any of it. I wish I could be like that. She's way too cool."

Max leaned her head into her hand and muttered in agreement. "Me too. I mean, I've hardly seen her all day… she seems to be friends with everyone. I didn't even see her this morning. Where the hell did she get to last night? We were all together in the common room, she said she was going to follow me up!"

"Uhh, yeah…" Chloe smiled guiltily. "I was going to tell you about that… basically after you went, neither of us really were ready for sleep, so she kinda… crashed in the Hufflepuff common room."

"YOU WHAT?!" Max cried out; she gripped the edge of her desk so hard that her knuckles went white.

Unfortunately her outburst alerted the rest of the room to the conversation happening at their desk, and both girls shot back in fright as the Professor roared at them.

"YOU TWO! Would you kindly like to include the rest of the class in your little _discussion?!"_ she spat. The two girls fervently shook their heads and shrank back into their seats. "Good. Then I suppose ten points each from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff will suffice." The rest of the room groaned as Max blushed bright red, and both girls hung their heads in shame.

Max didn't spend long contemplating the loss of points on her first day. She was too preoccupied with the fact that her best friend for most of her life had invited Rachel, a girl she'd known for barely a day, back to her common room instead of Max. The anger and hurt boiled in her blood, rising dangerously close to the surface.

She didn't speak to Chloe for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much to all my readers and reviewers, and to those who have added this story to their favourite/follow lists. I apologise for how long it's taken to update - I've been in a bad place recently and just couldn't find the motivation. I'm still not in a particularly good place, but this seemed easier to update than my novel, and I really want to keep this story going right til the end, however long it takes.

On that note, I must apologise for the poor quality of this chapter - I haven't written anything since mid-December and so I really need some time to get back into the swing of things! Hopefully it won't take as long to upload the next chapter, and my writing quality will be back to normal in the not-too-distant future.

This fic is going to be a long one. A very long one. I have so many ideas, and I anticipate there will be about 4 chapters for each of their school years, plus about 4 chapters of epilogue - so hopefully by the end there will be approximately 35 chapters of equal length in total. Just as a guideline!

I hope you enjoy the next installments!

H xx


	4. Making Frenemies

A term had passed since the first years had begun at Hogwarts, and they had all settled in fairly well. Max had forgiven Chloe about a week after the incident on their first day; not without hours of grovelling from the latter, though. Once they had made up, Chloe and the Hufflepuff boys hosted an impromptu party in their room for their group – the Gryffindor first years and Kate had all been invited. The nine of them made a tight-knit friendship group, and could often be found hanging out together at break and lunch times, either in the Hall or, when the weather was fairer, outside in the grounds.

Max had noted that even though she and Chloe were back on good terms, she often found Chloe spending time with Rachel, seemingly more so than herself. She tried not to let this get to her, even though it really was; one time she found them huddled together giggling, sat by the lake, and she had made her way over to an old secluded oak tree at the edge of the grounds, where she had sat down alone and let the tears flow.

Before long a Ravenclaw boy had come across her, and stopped in surprise to ask if she was alright. Max learned that his name was Albus, and he was Lily's older brother; Max knew that Lily had an older brother called James who was also in Gryffindor, but she had never met Albus before. The two had sat together for a while and talked – Max found that Albus was a very understanding, sweet boy who wanted to help her more than anything. They had agreed to meet up at the tree and talk every Tuesday lunch, and Max looked forward to these meetings greatly.

In addition to this Max had regular meetings with Kate in the library to do homework together, and sometimes at breakfast for a cup of tea and a catch up. She felt sad that Kate was all alone but noted that the rest of her friends were making an effort to include her too – she was always there at lunchtime gatherings, talking and joking along with the rest of them.

Yes, she was trying hard not to let the lessened level of contact with Chloe bother her, but it was easier said than done. While Max tried hard with her homework and met one-on-one with her friends, Chloe had become obsessed with quidditch and with being like Rachel – Max was desperately clinging on to the hope that she would not lose her best friend. She held on to their time together in their Astronomy classes like it was worth a million pounds.

* * *

It was Thursday lunchtime and Max was sitting with her friends outside in the quad. It was a surprisingly nice day for January; the sun was shining and it was chilly, but without any wind or breeze, so the first years found it comfortable to sit outside in the fresh air.

Justin and Trevor had brought their skateboards down and were teaching Hugo how to skate. Rachel and Chloe were running around the quad laughing and playing at duelling; Max sat with Warren, Kate and Lily on the bench, looking into their Charms textbook and talking about the homework they had been set on the levitating charm.

"Hey, Rach!" Warren called.

The two girls turned around and ran towards the group, stopping at the bench and panting for breath.

"Whassup?" grinned Rachel, slinging an arm around Chloe's shoulder. Max looked down as she felt a pang of envy in her chest.

Warren jammed a finger down onto a paragraph in the textbook. "How on _earth_ did you get that feather to float earlier? I don't understand a word of this."

Rachel craned her head round to look at the textbook. "Ah, this says that you have to swish your wand to nose height. Seriously, go a little further, it works easier."

"Oh man, thanks!" Warren grinned. "I thought I was never going to get it."

He reached into his robes and grabbed his wand, before stealing Hugo's tie from the other end of the bench and setting it down in front of him. Clearing his throat, he began to recite the familiar incantation.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he chanted, swishing his wand above his nose and flicking it to the side.

Slowly but surely Hugo's tie began to rise from the bench, one end followed by the other. Chloe whooped, starting a chorus of cheers from the others. Warren grinned a broad grin and stood up, flinging his arms around Rachel in a bear hug.

"Thanks so much! This is amazing!" he released Rachel, who was immediately enveloped in a hug by Chloe.

"You little genius, you." Chloe smiled, as Rachel hugged her back readily.

Max sat uncomfortably and watched the exchange from her seat on the bench, the familiar jealous feeling slowly boiling in her blood. A few seconds passed, at which point Max felt the hug had gone on long enough; she slammed her textbook loudly and angrily; the two girls jumped apart, startled at the noise. Max stared at them for a moment before abruptly leaping up from her seat.

"Right. I'm off."

She stuffed the textbook into her bag and, grabbing it along with her cloak, began to stride back to the castle. The first years looked back and forth at each other, confused by her sudden departure.

"Oi!" Chloe called after her. "Super-Max! Where you going?"

"Broom cupboard. Flying lesson!" Max yelled back shortly, trying not to let her voice betray her emotions; she disappeared into the castle towards the equipment centre, leaving the others in stunned silence behind her.

* * *

Max stormed across the ground towards the quidditch pitch, school-issue Cleansweep 7 in hand. This day could not get any worse. First of all Rachel and Chloe had been sharing in-jokes and giggling all through Charms, and now this? Max was beginning to think Chloe was forgetting about her. She seemed to be completely obsessed with Rachel, and hardly had any time for Max anymore. To top it off, this afternoon they had flying with the Slytherins, which meant she would have to spend the afternoon with Nathan Prescott and his posse, as well as Rachel, who she was gradually beginning to despise. Max felt the tears hot behind her eyes and willed them away as she entered the quidditch pitch; she needn't have worried though, as due to her rush to leave the group, she was by far the first person to arrive to the lesson.

Around ten minutes later the other students began to arrive. Unluckily for Max they were led by Nathan and his Slytherin sidekicks, Zachary and Logan – as they entered the pitch Nathan sauntered across to Max and sneered down at her.

"Cleansweep, I see. That's a bit… last _millennia,_ isn't it?"

Max sighed. "Shut your face, Prescott," she warned. "I'm not in the mood."

"Ooh, tetchy." Nathan smirked, pulling his brand new Firebolt Aspire in front of him, clearly showing it off in front of his mates, and Max. "Maybe you should get with the times, Caulfield."

Max balled her fists in anger. "Hey, not all of us are blessed to have disgustingly rich parents like yours. At least I have real friends. Friends who aren't bribed to be by your posho parents!"

Zachary and Logan remained in silence for once. Nathan narrowed his eyes and looked around to address them.

"You're not gonna let this little punk talk to me like that, are you?!"

The boys fervently shook their heads and pushed past Nathan to grab Max, one arm each; however they were interrupted by the rest of the class filing into the quidditch pitch, and after noticing this, they quickly let her go.

"Wimps!" Nathan spat at them, before turning his attention to Max. He narrowed his eyes and pointed between her eyes. "You'd better watch it, Caulfield. You'll pay for this."

"Yeah, whatever!" Max called as they turned and began to walk away. "I'm not scared of you!"

She watched them retreat for a bit before raising her hand up to massage her forehead; she stayed this way, trying to push out the headache that was beginning to develop, right up until all the students were lined up and the class was about to begin. She looked up and around her, noticing that Luke and Megan, two Gryffindors she didn't know too well, were standing either side of her; she guessed that the others had decided to stay out of her way after the events of that afternoon. Sighing, she looked to the front, where Madam Hooch was ready to begin the class.

"Right, first years!" she called. "We've covered the basics, and now I think it's about time we tried a short flight, don't you?"

The first years murmured excitedly between them; finally, a chance to stay in the air for more than a few seconds. The excitement was palpable, and it took Madam Hooch a good while to calm them.

"Alright, alright, settle down!" she barked. Eventually the noise died down, and she was able to continue.

"I have lined you up like this for a reason. Gryffindors in front – you will take it in turns to touch off from the ground, and make your way to the edge of the pitch. You will complete one full lap, then return to your starting position and touch back down. Once the last Gryffindor – Miss Amber – has taken off, then Mr. Prescott will lead the Slytherins behind them. Please leave at least 5 seconds after the person in front of you has gone before you follow."

Nathan raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Prescott?"

"Professor, what if the people in front are too slow? I've had much more experience with this, I don't want to slow down just for these total beginners!"

Madam Hooch sighed. "As refreshingly chivalric as that is, Mr Prescott, I will allow more experienced flyers to overtake the rest, PROVIDING you leave at least a metre between you, and under no circumstances must you come into contact with another flyer."

Nathan lowered his hand back to his side, and turned to smirk knowingly at Logan. Max didn't turn around to witness this exchange; but she could not shake the feeling that no good could come of Nathan's question.

"RIGHT!" barked Madam Hooch. "First years, mount your brooms!"

Max lifted her leg over her Cleansweep and felt it respond to her touch; she shook nervously and gripped on tight. As much as she enjoyed flying, she was still incredibly anxious being so far up from the ground.

"On the count of three!" Madam Hooch called. "One… two… THREE!"

Max looked ahead of her and watched as, one by one, her Gryffindor classmates took off from the ground. First Juliet, then Luke… then it was her turn. She waited a few seconds before pushing off from the ground and rising into the air, leaning forward and accelerating towards the edge of the pitch.

She began her lap around the pitch and, not long after, she heard Madam Hooch's whistle, signalling Nathan's take-off. Max hunched over her broom and willed it to go faster, but the broom could sense her fear and refused, continuing to travel at a steady rate. She closed her eyes and silently prayed, gripping the broom handle tightly; a few seconds passed and she opened them again, focussing all her energy on simply completing the lap.

It wasn't long before Max felt a presence pull up beside her and slow down to travel at her pace. She looked around, even though she knew who it was, and came face to face with Nathan Prescott. Desperately Max looked down towards Madam Hooch, but she was preoccupied with a Slytherin girl who had still not taken off, due to a fear of heights.

Max gulped and looked back at Nathan.

"Move it along, Prescott!" she yelled. "What's wrong? Not all you're cracked up to be?"

Nathan grinned evilly and edged closer to Max. "Oh, I'm good alright. This'll teach _you_ not to badmouth my family!"

Before she could open her mouth to respond, Nathan had barrelled sideways into her, knocking her clean off her broom. The Cleansweep flew off into the distance as Max tumbled down through the sky, screaming as she went; as she fell she saw Nathan raise his hands from his broom in innocence and open his mouth in a fake expression of horror. She didn't have too long to process this though; the last thing she remembered was pain, searing pain… and then black.

* * *

When Max opened her eyes, she was flat on her back, looking straight up at an unfamiliar ceiling. She went to lift herself up onto her elbows and felt a searing pain in her legs as they rose higher in the bed; she gritted her teeth and hissed as she pulled herself right up into a sitting position and leant back into the soft pillows behind her. Looking around, she saw many other white beds around her; some were occupied with other students, some were empty, and a few were surrounded by medical screens. Max deduced that she must be in the hospital wing and sighed in despair.

Mere moments later, Max became aware of two voices arguing in the distance; the voices became louder as they presumably drew nearer to the hospital wing. One belonged to a woman Max didn't recognise, but she would know the other voice anywhere.

"For the last time, _no,_ Miss Price! Miss Caulfield has sustained some very serious injuries – she needs some time alone to recover!"

" _Please,_ Madam Pomfrey!" Max heard Chloe beg. "I promise I'll be quick. Just 5 minutes? _Please?"_

"Miss Price, I must insist you get away from there this mi-" Madam Pomfrey was cut short as she followed Chloe into the hospital wing and noticed that Max had awoken. "Ah, Miss Caulfield! I see you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Like I fell twenty feet off a broom," Max joked. "Please, Madam Pomfrey. It's okay. Can I see Chloe for a minute?"

Madam Pomfrey tutted, but eventually gave in to the girls' pleading eyes. "Oh, alright then. 5 minutes!"

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief and gratefully thanked her. "You have no idea how much this means to me! 5 minutes only, in and out. I promise!"

Madam Pomfrey waved Chloe away with a flick of her hand. "You'd better hurry. Time is ticking."

The girls watched as she strode swiftly out of the room; Chloe turned round and hurried over to Max, sitting down at her bedside and taking her hand in her own.

"Hey, Bat-Max," Chloe whispered softly. "How are you doing?"

Max squeezed her friend's hand gratefully. "Not too bad. My legs bloody kill though… thank you for coming to see me."

"Don't be stupid," Chloe chuckled. "Of course I was gonna come and see you. You broke both your legs, you idiot. What happened out there?"

Max grimaced. "That jerk-face Prescott knocked me off my broom."

Chloe's face darkened. "I should have known it'd be something to do with that bastard… I'm gonna get him so bad…"

Max smiled and covered their intertwined hands with her free hand. "Hey, none of that. Don't go doing anything stupid on my behalf, you'll get into trouble."

"…Alright," Chloe's face softened. "For you. But not for him!"

Max looked down at the blanket and gulped. "Hey, Che…?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not… forgetting about me, are you?"

Chloe stopped short for a moment before leaning closer to the fragile girl. "No way, Maxie! I could never forget you, I promise. You're my _best friend."_

Max closed her eyes and sighed with relief, leaning back into the pillows behind her. "Thanks, Chlo. You are too."

Chloe squeezed Max's hand, causing her to open her eyes and look into the other girl's. A moment of comfortable silence between them was shared, before Madam Pomfrey burst back into the room.

"Right girls, that's it. Time's up. Miss Caulfield needs her next dose of skele-gro. These legs will be back to normal in no time."

Chloe grimaced and, smiling at Max, stood up to leave. "I'll be back tomorrow," she promised.

As she made her way out, she paused by Madam Pomfrey, stopping to ask a single question.

"Hey, do you know what happened to Prescott?"

 _"_ _Mr._ Prescott was sent home on a two week suspension. Whilst no one observed him actually knock Miss Caulfield off her broom, it was noted that his position by the area where she fell was well in breach of the metre long proximity boundary that Madam Hooch had set in place."

Max grinned, and Chloe turned back to flash a thumbs up at her.

"Hella _yes!"_


	5. One Year Down

A/N: Thank you soooooo, much for waiting, guys. I haven't written for well over a year and I am certain that this chapter is a bit rusty, but I am going to try to stick with it now for a bit - at least for the next couple of weeks while I am on holiday from work. I'm looking forward to starting 2nd year in the next chapter and to developing the characters and plotlines a bit more. Again, thank you so, so much for being patient with me!

As always, Copyright of the world and characters of Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling, and the world and characters of Life is Strange belong to Don'tNod, and I thank them both for providing me with excellent resources for my fanfiction!

* * *

It was nearing the end of their first year at Hogwarts, and since the incident during that fateful flying lesson affairs had mostly returned to normal, with one added bonus; upon his return from his two-week suspension Nathan had been required to serve the rest of his free time that term either in detention or in supervised study, meaning that for the most part, Max and her friends had been left alone by the Slytherin cronies, an occurrence welcomed by all.

It was a beautiful May day, the weather slowly creeping into full 30-degree heat and a beating down summer sun; this was unfortunate for the first years as they were all holed up in the Great Hall, normal house tables replaced with single-person tables ready for their end-of-year exams. This was their final exam, and unfortunately for Max, also her worst subject – History of Magic. She was not the only one; looking around the room she could see Chloe tapping her pencil on her desk, Rachel with her head lolling in her hands, and the Hufflepuff boys with looks of complete dumbstruck confusion on their faces. The only people who looked like they had any idea what was going on were Warren, Lily, and especially Kate who was scribbling fervently on her sixth piece of paper. Max frowned as she appraised Kate – the poor girl was looking pale and severely tired with large bags under her eyes, and Max was beginning to worry. However, she shrugged it off as pure overworking – she knew how much Kate had been revising for these exams.

"A-HEM!"

Max turned with a jolt towards the front of the hall where she found the exam invigilator glaring sternly at her; he pointed with two fingers towards his eyes and then to hers, in an "I'm-watching-you" manner. Max silently mouthed one single word – "sorry" – towards him, and eventually he turned away to begin walking down the rows of flustered students. Max sighed and bent her head down towards her paper, where she had to stifle a groan at the final assignment – an essay on the four founders and what struggles/conflicts they would have faced when developing the school. She let her head drop soundlessly onto the table and silently pleaded for the exam bell to ring soon.

* * *

Less than an hour later, the first years were hoarding out of the Great Hall, through the corridors and out into the grounds, mostly shrieking with glee at the exams being over and excitement at finally being allowed out into the glorious summer sun. Max couldn't help herself but to grin; even if that was her worst subject, she felt certain that she had done enough to secure her place in the second year, and that was good enough for her. She felt the Hufflepuff boys rush past her, ties unloosened wound their necks, clutching a football in hand – Rachel and Chloe could be heard laughing about the exam from a ways behind her – and then suddenly-

"OOF!"

Max nearly toppled over at the force of Lily and Warren bundling her from behind. She tried to glare, but couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"Hey, watch it you two!"

"Sorry Maxie!" Warren giggled, his face beet red from a mix of the sun and the adrenaline pulsing through his veins. Max couldn't help but think that a sunscreen charm would do him some good right at this very moment.

"How was that exam for you?" He continued.

"Definitely not as good as you guys!" Max laughed. "It looked like you had just about written a book between you!"

Lily's face flushed. "Well, maybe, but I found it was the easiest subject to revise…"

Max groaned. "Maybe the easiest, but definitely the most boring!"

"Either way, we haven't done anywhere near as well as Kate for sure. Did you _see_ how much she wrote?!"

"I know right!" Max laughed. "Speaking of, where _is_ Kate?"

Warren shrugged. "I'm not sure. I'm sure she's about though, she's _got_ to be happy with how that went. Anyway –" he gestured towards the Hufflepuff boys, who were beckoning him over to join their football game – "I think I'm gonna go and join them over there… wanna come?"

Lily shook her head no. "Sorry bro. Not my thing. I think I'm gonna go and catch up with Chloe and Rach."

Warren shrugged and grinned, before sprinting off to join the other boys. "Suit yourself!"

Lily turned to face Max. "You coming, Maxie?"

Max looked towards Chloe and Rachel, who were in their predictable position of huddled up close and giggling. Things between her and Chloe had been better since the flying incident, but she still found she couldn't bear to be around the two of them together; Chloe acted so differently around Rachel, and the level of giggling was sickening.

"Nah… you're alright," Max replied. "I'd rather leave the lovebirds to it. I think I'm going to go and look for Kate."

Lily looked taken aback, but shrugged it off and smiled nonetheless. "Okay, well – I hope you find her!" and with that, she quickly embraced Max in a parting hug, before skipping off to join the two girls.

This left Max alone, and with a growing concern for the whereabouts and wellbeing of Kate. She pushed her way through a crowd of Ravenclaws, scouting the group as she went; alas, no sign of Kate there. She carried on, through the gradually dwindling group of first years, all the way through the width of the corridor and out into the next quad. What she saw there made her gasp.

Kate and Nathan were talking. Nathan hadn't troubled anyone since his suspension and term's worth of detentions, and Kate had never mentioned any sort of interaction with him; and here they were, talking as if it was an everyday occurrence. Max quickly hid behind a pillar and strained to hear what was being said, but to no avail; the voices were far too hushed to make out anything. Eventually Nathan caught sight of movement behind the pillar and nervously he backed away from Kate; he gathered his bag from the floor and strode briskly towards the pillar and the corridor that let into the school. With a curt nod he brushed past Max and hissed her name – " _Caulfield" –_ in cutting acknowledgement; she simply murmured "Prescott…" in embarrassed reply at being caught, before turning her head towards Kate, who was slowly packing her things away. Max ran towards her, yelling all the while.

"KATE!"

Kate turned to face her in alarm; her face was red and tear streaked. She turned her attention back to her things and began to hurry off.

Max couldn't believe it. "KAAAAATE!" She tried again. _"KATE!"_

Breathlessly she caught up with her friend and tried to stop her in her tracks.

"Kate…" She puffed. "Kate, what's – what's up?"

Kate finally turned to face her, before sending her off as quickly and seamlessly as possible.

"Nothing, Max. I'm fine. I'll see you in a bit." And with that, she smiled and hurried away.

Max was left standing there, both aghast and gobsmacked. She had to find out what was going on, she simply must! She turned back to the other quad to see if she could spot any of her friends, but they had all moved on ages ago; miserably she walked towards one of the benches that was situated only a few feet away, and plonked herself down onto it.

Eventually the bell went off, and Max was aware of all the other students filing out for break time; she felt a presence sit down beside her, and, slowly, she lifted her head upwards and found herself face to face with Albus.

"Long day?" He asked, with a kind smile on his face.

"You could say that, yeah…" Max mumbled, turning to look ahead at the large cherry blossom tree opposite the two; the beautiful pink leaves were falling down in the gentle breeze, and Max couldn't help but think back to when her and Chloe were kids, having sleepovers, playing pirates, before Hogwarts… when everything was easier.

Albus stood up and held out his hand. "Come on. Let's go for a walk – you can tell me everything."

Max smiled up at him and took his hand. "Al- alright." She stuttered. She stood up, and, hand in hand, they began to walk towards the lakes.

Max could feel eyes boring into the back of her skull, but simply shook it off, focussing on relaying to Albus the events of the day.

Little did she know that, as they walked, a figure stood in the crowds close by was watching them go; eyes following their every move.

* * *

Before Max knew it, she was stood at platform 9 ¾ once more, only this time having got off the train, rather than about to get on it. She scanned the crowds for her parents and eventually found them, running towards them and barrelling first into her father's arms, then her mother's.

A tirade of introductions then followed – Max introduced her mum to the new friends she had made that year, specifically Albus, who she now considered to be one of her closest friends; they also met Lily, Warren, Hugo and Kate and their parents. Max spoke about Justin and Trevor, although they were nowhere to be seen, and she struggled to prise herself away from her new friends when the time came, convincing her parents to have them all over to stay at some point in the summer amongst frenzied promises between the friends that they would all write to each other, no question.

As they left, Max caught sight of Chloe and Rachel with Chloe's parents and waved at them, to which they waved back; Max's parents started to walk towards them but Max shook her head no and led them towards the barrier.

Max's parents looked at each other and raised their eyebrows questioningly; but wordlessly they followed their daughter back into the muggle world.


End file.
